Jim Sharman
Encyclopedia
James "Jim" Sharman the son of boxing tent entrepreneur Jimmy Sharman
, is a director and writer for film and stage with over 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director from the 1960s to the present, but is probably best known internationally as the director of the 1973 theatrical hit The Rocky Horror Show
, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975) and its follow-up Shock Treatment
(1981).
in Sydney in 1966.
Sharman created a series of ground-breaking productions of experimental theatre
, many for the Old Tote Theatre Company
, culminating in a controversial staging of Mozart's Don Giovanni
for Opera Australia
at the age of 21.
Over the following decade, he directed three musicals that defined their era: Hair
in 1969 (Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Boston) (he also designed the original Sydney production); Jesus Christ Superstar
in 1972 (Australia and Palace Theatre, London) and created the original production of The Rocky Horror Show
with Richard O'Brien
in 1973 (Royal Court Theatre, London – subsequently in Sydney, Los Angeles, New York City). He cowrote the screenplay and directed the international cult hit film The Rocky Horror Picture Show
(1975) for Twentieth Century Fox, and directed its loosely based sequel Shock Treatment
in 1981.
In the following decades, and often working in conjunction with designer Brian Thomson
(a partnership that began at the Old Tote), Sharman directed a series of new works and Australian premieres, including a series of productions of plays by Patrick White
in the late 1970s – The Season at Sarsaparilla, Big Toys, Netherwood and A Cheery Soul - which are credited with reviving the Nobel Laureate's career as a dramatist. He also directed the film The Night the Prowler
, using a screenplay written by Patrick White.
Sharman was Artistic Director of a transformational Adelaide Festival of Arts
in 1982 and, while in South Australia
, he created Lighthouse
, a theatre company that specialised in radical stagings of classics and premieres of new work by major Australian dramatists, including Louis Nowra
, Stephen Sewell
and Patrick White. The ensemble included many major Australian artists, including actors Geoffrey Rush
, Gillian Jones
, John Wood
and Kerry Walker and associate director Neil Armfield
, who would further develop this adventurous tradition at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre
.
Continuing as a freelance director, Sharman's most recent work has been Stephen Sewell
's Three Furies - scenes from the life of Francis Bacon
, for which he won a Helpmann Award for best direction. It played at the 2005 Sydney and Auckland Festivals and the 2006 Perth and Adelaide Festivals. In 2006, he revived his landmark staging of Benjamin Britten
's Death In Venice
for Opera Australia. In 2009, he will direct a new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte
for Opera Australia, a collaboration with the Berlin-based Australian conductor Simon Hewett.
In August 2008, Sharman's memoirs Blood and Tinsel were published by Melbourne University Publishing
where he talks about his childhood on the road with Jimmy Sharman's Boxing Troupe and also speaks out for the first time about The Rocky Horror Picture Show and his many productions. The website for Blood and Tinsel contains reviews and transcripts of interviews with Sharman that were undertaken in conjunction with the launch of the book.
Jimmy Sharman
James Sharman senior and junior were father and son Australian boxing troupe impresarios....
, is a director and writer for film and stage with over 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director from the 1960s to the present, but is probably best known internationally as the director of the 1973 theatrical hit The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
(1975) and its follow-up Shock Treatment
Shock Treatment
Shock Treatment is a 1981 musical-black comedy film and a follow-up to the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While not an outright sequel, the movie does feature several characters from the movie portrayed by different actors and several Rocky Horror actors portraying new characters...
(1981).
Biography
James David Sharman was born in 1945 in Sydney, Australia, to James Michael Sharman (1912–2006) and Christina McAndleish Sharman (1914–2003). Sharman was educated in Sydney, though his upbringing included time spent on Australian showgrounds where his father and grandfather ran a travelling sideshow of popular legend: Jimmy Sharman's Boxing Troupe. This brought him into contact with the world of circus and travelling vaudeville. Developing an interest in theatre, he graduated from the production course at the National Institute of Dramatic ArtNational Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
in Sydney in 1966.
Sharman created a series of ground-breaking productions of experimental theatre
Experimental theatre
Experimental theatre is a general term for various movements in Western theatre that began in the late 19th century as a retraction against the dominant vent governing the writing and production of dramatical menstrophy, and age in particular. The term has shifted over time as the mainstream...
, many for the Old Tote Theatre Company
Old Tote Theatre Company
The Old Tote Theatre Company began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art and was the precursor to the Sydney Theatre Company.. It was one of the leading Australian theatre companies of the period.The Old Tote began in a converted tin shed on...
, culminating in a controversial staging of Mozart's Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
for Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
at the age of 21.
Over the following decade, he directed three musicals that defined their era: Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
in 1969 (Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Boston) (he also designed the original Sydney production); Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
in 1972 (Australia and Palace Theatre, London) and created the original production of The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
with Richard O'Brien
Richard O'Brien
Richard Timothy Smith , better known under his stage name Richard O'Brien, is an English writer, actor, television presenter and theatre performer. He is perhaps best known for writing the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show and for his role in presenting the popular TV show The Crystal Maze...
in 1973 (Royal Court Theatre, London – subsequently in Sydney, Los Angeles, New York City). He cowrote the screenplay and directed the international cult hit film The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
(1975) for Twentieth Century Fox, and directed its loosely based sequel Shock Treatment
Shock Treatment
Shock Treatment is a 1981 musical-black comedy film and a follow-up to the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While not an outright sequel, the movie does feature several characters from the movie portrayed by different actors and several Rocky Horror actors portraying new characters...
in 1981.
In the following decades, and often working in conjunction with designer Brian Thomson
Brian Thomson
Brian Thomson is an Australian theatre, opera and film designer. He has been active in Australian stage design for over three decades.Thomson began a long and successful collaboration with director Jim Sharman after they met at Heavenburgers on Sydney's Oxford Street in 1969; they worked together...
(a partnership that began at the Old Tote), Sharman directed a series of new works and Australian premieres, including a series of productions of plays by Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
in the late 1970s – The Season at Sarsaparilla, Big Toys, Netherwood and A Cheery Soul - which are credited with reviving the Nobel Laureate's career as a dramatist. He also directed the film The Night the Prowler
The Night the Prowler
The Night the Prowler is a 1978 Australian film directed by Jim Sharman and written by Patrick White...
, using a screenplay written by Patrick White.
Sharman was Artistic Director of a transformational Adelaide Festival of Arts
Adelaide Festival of Arts
The Adelaide Festival of Arts is an arts festival held biennially in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Although locally considered to be one of the world's greatest celebrations of the arts, that is internationally renowned and the pre-eminent cultural event in Australia, it is actually...
in 1982 and, while in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, he created Lighthouse
State Theatre Company of South Australia
The State Theatre Company of South Australia is South Australia's leading professional theatre company. It is based in the Dunstan Playhouse at the Adelaide Festival Centre. The current artistic director is Adam Cook...
, a theatre company that specialised in radical stagings of classics and premieres of new work by major Australian dramatists, including Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist.He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights...
, Stephen Sewell
Stephen Sewell
Stephen Sewell may refer to:*Stephen Sewell , early Canadian lawyer and politician*Stephen Sewell , Australian screen and play writer-See also:*Steve Sewell , former American football player...
and Patrick White. The ensemble included many major Australian artists, including actors Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Rush
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
, Gillian Jones
Gillian Jones
Gillian Jones is an Australian actress from Newcastle, New South Wales who is best known for appearances in Twelfth Night, Oscar and Lucinda, Last Train to Freo and the role of Di Paige in the television series Love My Way...
, John Wood
John Wood (Australian actor)
John Wood is a Gold Logie Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his role as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon in the Seven Network's long running police drama Blue Heelers.-TV career:...
and Kerry Walker and associate director Neil Armfield
Neil Armfield
Neil Geoffrey Armfield AO is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera.Born in Sydney, Armfield was the youngest of three boys. The son of a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's biscuit factory he was brought up in the suburb of Concord adjacent to Exile Bay...
, who would further develop this adventurous tradition at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre
Belvoir St Theatre
Belvoir St Theatre is an Australian theatre venue in Sydney. The venue in Belvoir Street, Surry Hills previously operated as the Nimrod Theatre, and was founded as "Belvoir St" in 1984 by Sue Hill and Chris Westwood...
.
Continuing as a freelance director, Sharman's most recent work has been Stephen Sewell
Stephen Sewell
Stephen Sewell may refer to:*Stephen Sewell , early Canadian lawyer and politician*Stephen Sewell , Australian screen and play writer-See also:*Steve Sewell , former American football player...
's Three Furies - scenes from the life of Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
, for which he won a Helpmann Award for best direction. It played at the 2005 Sydney and Auckland Festivals and the 2006 Perth and Adelaide Festivals. In 2006, he revived his landmark staging of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Death In Venice
Death in Venice (opera)
Death in Venice is an opera in two acts by Benjamin Britten, his last. The opera is based on the novella Death in Venice by Thomas Mann. Myfanwy Piper wrote the English libretto. It was first performed at Snape Maltings near Aldeburgh, England on 16 June 1973.The astringent score is marked by some...
for Opera Australia. In 2009, he will direct a new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
for Opera Australia, a collaboration with the Berlin-based Australian conductor Simon Hewett.
In August 2008, Sharman's memoirs Blood and Tinsel were published by Melbourne University Publishing
Melbourne University Publishing
Melbourne University Publishing is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne .MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell books and stationery to students, and then began publishing books itself...
where he talks about his childhood on the road with Jimmy Sharman's Boxing Troupe and also speaks out for the first time about The Rocky Horror Picture Show and his many productions. The website for Blood and Tinsel contains reviews and transcripts of interviews with Sharman that were undertaken in conjunction with the launch of the book.